first snow of the season

When I went out to capture the image, last week, I had a different look in mind. This evolved as I worked on it.

9 exposure HDR
focused at 3 different points (a total of 27 shots)
ISO 1000, f/8, 60mm macro lens

Photomatix -- tone detailing with the same settings for each group of three
Photoshop Photomerge didn't work on this, so I had to mask manually to get the in-focus parts from each layer.
Nik Color Efex -- Pro Contrast
Alien Skin Snap Art -- Color Pencil; One of the sliders controls the amount of coverage, so I was able to leave some uncovered spots that look like fine snowflakes.
Selective Color adjustment layer
Snap Art -- Stylize line art to get fine dark detail lines; Then, duplicated layer and blurred it to broaden and lighten the lines for shadows to add depth.
Color Fill layer (light gray) in Color blend mode
Klassen texture in Linear Burn blend mode with substantial masking
Level, Curves, and Exposure adjustment layers
strain gradient vignette -- dark brown

Wow, Dennis, your workflow is amazing and I really like the finished product:S3: I could also see a slight crop from the top but I love it the way it is.

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Originally Posted by Cheryl Slechta

. . . I could also see a slight crop from the top but I love it the way it is.

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I wondered about that, and I'll be interested to see what others think about it. One of the reasons I decided not to crop any more off (I did crop some) was that I liked the curve that starts in the upper left corner and proceeds down and to the right, ending in that darkish spot very near the right edge. It's subtle, to be sure, and the effect on some people could be subconscious, but I thought it was worth keeping.

Dennis, this is really excellent! I like your thoughtful composition. The capture and post processing is outstanding... a lot of depth and the color has come out very well. I like this crop and keep it as it is... TFS

Very nicely processed, Dennis, like the color, textures, and the composition has nice balance between the snow and pumpkin. Would be cool to see this kind of processing on a whole patch too. Nice work!

Dennis, I cropped it last night and I think I like the OP better:S3:

Dennis, Nice job with the interesting crop. I see a hint of plastic wrap especially in the URC-I'm trying to figure out what combo achieved that. I am guessing the snap art and the texture? Nice job with this one and thank you for sharing your workflow. I always love to see the step by steps.:S3:

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Originally Posted by denise ippolito

. . . I see a hint of plastic wrap especially in the URC-I'm trying to figure out what combo achieved that. I am guessing the snap art and the texture? . . .

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That was some plants from a flower garden, and perhaps just a bit of another pumpkin, all of which were out of focus. It looks like it was the Snap Art Color Pencil that gave it that effect, but the blurred line art layer might have added to it just a little. It's probably that it was out of focus that makes it look a little different from the rest of the image.

When I made the texture layer invisible, that didn't change it, at all. When I looked at the mask for that layer, I realized why. It's applied at the full strength the layer opacity permits on the pumpkin and stem, to a lesser extent on the snow, and not at all in the upper corners and the lower right corner.

It all combined to make a wonderful look Dennis!:S3:

Dennis, there is more going on here than the first glance might suggest. I like the crop as is, and would love to see a large hi res version of this. I agree, the workflow and the resulting image is impressive work. Excellent texture on the pumpkin. Thanks for sharing all of this.:S3:

Dennis, I'm late on this............Great processing and appreciate the detail of your workflow. Getting good texture in snow takes some know-how, and you did a great job of it. I like the overall comp of the image. The detail in the upper right and left corners make this comp work rather than being just negative space. Really like the look you got here......................nice job.

Hi Dennis, rather late to the party, but you nailed this one quite nicely with both the processing and the comp. We have only really had a couple of dustings of snow so far this year and I live in a snow-belt region of Ontario. There are suppose to be some squalls blowing through over the next day or so, so I am hoping to finally get some winter pics.

An insta-crop for me including moving your signature and taking a bit off the left. To my eye the compositional balance is improved immensely in the respost :S3:. I do love the concept and the execution.

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Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

An insta-crop for me . . . To my eye the compositional balance is improved immensely in the respost :S3:. . .

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Thanks for the re-post and the comments. It does look good cropped that way.

You are most welcome Dennis. The darker areas top and right had to go. Then it was just a matter of getting the stem near the corner :S3:. Do remember that when I first started my instinct was to put every bird dead center in the frame....